Swedish donor offspring and their legal right to information

Abstract: All donor offspring conceived under the Swedish Genetic Integrity Act or the now-repealed Act on Insemination, from gametes donated after 1 March 1985, have the right to obtain identifying information about the donor when they are sufficiently mature. Despite this, studies undertaken in Sweden and abroad reveal that many donor offspring will never be able to exercise their right to information because their parents do not tell them how they were conceived. This study examines the regulatory framework established to facilitate access to identifying information for donor offspring in Sweden; the main objective being to determine whether or not the right to information is an effective legal right. In addition to giving an account of the source and scope of the right under Swedish law, Sweden´s possible obligations to donor offspring under the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child and the European Convention on Human Rights are explored. A number of measures that could promote the right to information are also considered.